Bookend Wins

We ended our meet at the Fair Grounds the same way we started – with a win!! For those who have not yet seen the race, there is a link on the blog (upper left). The first minute of the race looked ominous, but the last 4 seconds was something else. For Oculuna, she earned herself a trip to Kentucky. We are hopeful that there may be a race for her near the end of the Keeneland meet (3rd week of April).

For those who don’t follow closely, Keeneland is arguably one of the 3 most prestigious “boutique” meets in the country along with Saratoga and Del Mar. These meets only last a few weeks at a time, but the quality of racing is second to none. As such, it would be quite a thrill if the filly can make it to a race there for us. If not, her next start would likely be at Churchill Downs or Arlington Park.

Now that the racing for the quarter is complete, I will be sending out the 1Q10 report to the WG partners later this week.

Opposition Unknown

There were a total of 10 horses entered for Oculuna's race on Sunday. It is certain that the race will start w/ no more than 9. One horse is entered "Main Track Only" and thus will scratch if the race stays on the turf. If it comes off the turf, there will likely be a number of scratches. Additionally, 3 of the fillies entered are also ambitiously entered in a stakes race tomorrow in New Orleans. My best guess is somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-7 entrants will vie of the $43k purse on Sunday. We will know more on Friday once the stakes race is run. Either way, let's hope our filly finds the "softer" competition to her liking and grabs a share of that purse $$.

Waste of Time

The flights were delayed and bumpy. The weather was cool and damp. The racing was disappointing. We left town with more questions than answers about Stumbling Block. It was not a great trip to the "sunshine" state. While I have no guess for where and when we'll see Block next, we should see Oculuna race once more in New Orleans in a couple weeks.

Just "O.K."

As the horses were loading into the starting gate today, I was asked for a prediction. Objectively, I offered a “fifth place”. While it wasn’t a lack of confidence in our filly, it was simply that the entire field looked competitive on paper. Therefore, I was not too disappointed in a fourth place finish. There were 3 fillies faster than her today. In fact, she beat a few nice fillies including a pair trained by the best trainer on the planet (Steve Asmussen).
Tom and I discussed multiple theories after the race in an effort to make sense of the race. While we did not reach a consensus on “Why” she ran the way she did, we did agree on the answer to the question “what next?” Assuming she comes out of the race in good shape, we’ll point her towards a race near the end of the month at a lower class level in hopes of finding some softer competition. The end result: her 4th place today still put more $$ in our bank account than Block’s second place effort last week.
Speaking of Stumbling Block, A few of us are heading to Tampa this weekend to check in on him. There is a chance we’ll get to see him run on Saturday if the race fills. Regardless, I will touch base with Jamie to determine what lies ahead for him over the next few months as the Tampa meet winds down.